1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable electronic device such as a notebook personal computer (PC) with a flat panel display and, more particularly, to a portable electronic device with a touch panel that is mounted thereto in such a way that it is rotatable between a flat panel display and a keyboard.
2. Description of the Related Art
A certain type of conventional notebook PC, specifically adapted for use in finance/security/insurance industries, includes a touch panel that is affixed to a front surface of a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). Normally, this touch panel has been used as a "tablet" for accepting or capturing pointing input by a fingertip.
However, none of these notebook PCs include a "digitizer" function, which is exercised after rotating a touch panel provided independently of its flat panel display toward a keyboard, for capturing handwritten character input and for concurrently confirming a result of the input operation on the display screen. That is, since this type of notebook PC has a structural constraint that a touch panel is affixed to a front surface of a flat panel display, it has been impossible to concurrently confirm a result of the input operation by a pen on the display screen. Accordingly, in a case where it is required to use the digitizer function, it has been necessary to attach an external type of digitizer device to a juxtaposed base unit (system unit) of a notebook PC, thereby enabling to confirm a result of the input operation by squinting at the display screen of the notebook PC.
Also, due to the aforesaid structural constraint, this type of notebook PC has a problem in that, in case of inputting a handwritten character or an illustration by using a pen, there is no way to secure a space for placing a paper or a memorandum that describes the content of input information.